GREEN BAY, Wis. — Johnny Jolly returned to the Green Bay Packers and the National Football League for the first time in three years Tuesday and you didn’t even have to ask how he was feeling. It was obvious from his smile and gratitude.

“I feel great. It’s a blessing to have a second chance,” the defensive lineman said Tuesday afternoon after the Packers completed the first day of minicamp. “I take my hat off to the Packers. That showed a lot, them accepting me after everything I had been through.”

Jolly served a suspension imposed by the league, spent several months in prison and has undergone drug and addiction treatment. He said he hasn’t had codeine in 19 months.

Jolly arrived in Green Bay on Sunday, passed his physical Monday and practiced on a limited basis Tuesday. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said his goal for Jolly was to re-establish a football routine. He wouldn’t evaluate Jolly’s football appearance after just one day.

“It’s great to have him back,” said McCarthy. “The biggest thing for Johnny Jolly is just to be one of the 90. That’s really the way I want to go about it. Our locker room is ready to embrace him and make sure that he has the support he needs … not football-wise. The football part, I’m not really worried about.”

One of Jolly’s greatest fears had been to try to come back to football through free agency. The Packers have been protective of his privacy and welcoming as well. With players such as Ryan Pickett, B.J. Raji and Aaron Rodgers checking in on him now and then by contacting his mother, he had always clung to the idea of returning to the Packers.

A sixth-round pick out of Texas A&M in 2006, Jolly started 39 of 48 games in his first four seasons, including all 16 in ’08 and ’09. When Dom Capers’ 3-4 defense was put in place, he was disruptive at end and tackle and had a sack, interception and two fumble recoveries.

But then in July 2008 he was charged with possessing more than 200 grams of codeine during a Houston traffic stop. He played through the 2009 season while prosecutors built a case against him and eventually was given pretrial diversion, a form of probation that allows for charges to be dropped in a year if no other crime is committed.

Jolly was suspended indefinitely before the start of the 2010 season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. He missed the Packers’ Super Bowl run that season.

Jolly was reported to be in the process of applying for reinstatement early in 2011, but he was arrested again and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute in March of that year. Spared from prison and put on probation, Jolly was arrested again for possession of codeine in Houston that October.

“The lowest point was when I caught that last case,” said Jolly. “It was like, I know I didn’t do this again. I had to deal with it.”

A Houston judge sentenced him to six years in prison for violating his probation.

He began that term in November 2011 but was released the following May after a judge granted his application for “shock probation” — suspension of a sentence in hopes the incarceration makes the offender understand the seriousness of his situation.

When released in May 2012, Jolly expressed remorse for his actions and said he wanted to straighten out his life. He entered rehabilitation and stayed clean, eventually applying for reinstatement to the NFL.

The NFL reinstated Jolly from his suspension Feb. 27, 2013. He has been out of the league for three seasons — 2010, ’11 and ’12. Jolly turned 30 on Feb. 21.

Jolly said he had an extensive talk with Packers general manager Ted Thompson and McCarthy to explain his position and where he was now at this point in his life.

“Actually, that was the only way for me to go,” said Jolly. “To lay everything on the table and let them know where I was. How I felt. It’s best for me and it’s best for them, to know that it’s the truth and that it’s coming from my heart. I think that was a part of them signing me back — to know that I’m being honest and telling the truth.”

Jolly said he never had any such conversation with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. After he was reinstated from suspension, the Packers renegotiated his contract to a reasonable $710,000.

Jolly said he stayed active and worked out but that he wasn’t sure that he’d quite call it being in football shape.

“That part, football shape, comes around camp time,” said Jolly. “I stayed active. I lifted, did some things while I could work out. I did a little basketball.”

Prison wasn’t easy. He was there with people who committed murder. Other prisoners knew who Jolly was, and when they would work out with him they told him to get out of jail.

“It was like, ‘Man, you don’t belong here,'” said Jolly. “Get out of here and back to the field. Get yourself together.'”

Health-wise, Jolly looked good.

“I haven’t had no codeine in almost two years,” said Jolly. “Probably 19 months. My body feels great. I feel good, ready to play.”

Jolly’s locker was in the main locker room by the defensive linemen and Clay Matthews, and not in the spare locker room for tryout players and free agents. Jolly was extremely open to questions, wasn’t defensive and didn’t get agitated when questioned by the media.

But this is what he said when he thinks about looking back at what he was and who he is now:

“I was a bad man,” said Jolly. “It was crazy. I knew I needed to chill, but it was like I was getting a thrill out of what I was doing. In my heart, I was like, I need to chill, I’m a football player. I need to take care of myself.

“But, sometimes you lose focus and you can’t get yourself back on track. So God sits you down and puts you back on track. That’s what happened to me. I hate that I had to go through that, but it was a lesson learned.”

Jolly said he has to learn a few new plays but was most concerned about getting back to a routine. Stepping back on to the practice field “was excellent. I’m out there laughing and joking with the guys, it just felt like I never left. It was just like, man, this is a relief. Oh my God, I’m back on the field, practicing with the dudes I love to play ball with. It was great.”

“First of all, I’m thankful that off the field, he’s doing well,” said Williams. “After this game is over, that’s your life. I’m glad his life is where it needs to be.

“Second of all, I definitely want to see him on the field. Guys who sit out of football for two, three years — the chances of him coming back are slim to none. So for him to get that opportunity, it shows a lot of character not just for him but the Packers, giving him that second chance, which I think he deserves. He worked hard to get back to this point.”

The Packers always seem to be in need of a good defensive lineman, and with Jerel Worthy out after recovering from major knee surgery, Jolly could provide a boost if he is ready to resume his football career.

McCarthy said the Packers had no hesitation in bringing back Jolly.

“If an individual can do it, I believe Johnny Jolly is that man. He has the toughness, the drive, the passion.”

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